Cleat cleaner



Sept. 20, 1955 O. HOM ME CLEAT CLEANER Filed Aug. 29, 1951 ATTORNEYS-based cleat having a slightly greater height.

United States Patent CLE'AT CLEANER `=lai Homme,` Granite Falls, MinmApplication August 29, 1951, Serial No. 244,2ll2

solaims. (ci. ls-sm This invention relates to apparatus for the cleaningof cleats whichare attached to the soles of athletic shoes and is'especially adapted to be used during the progress of athletic games toremove mud and other foreign material which may cling to` and betweenthe cleats of such shoes wom by the players.

It has long been the Tpractice of `players in athletic competition towear `footwear whichl is especially adapted for Arthesparticular Vgamewhich they .are playing. Thus, baseyballplayers wear a-moderately softshoe which contains metal cleats of a more or'less standard arrangementwhich are adapted to pierce the earth to a proper degree to preventslipping of the players foot while he .is running or :jumping and stillwill-oier butr minimum interference with his-other activities such asbatting, ysliding and throwing. Further, the cleats are designed so asto be elective with ythe least danger to other: players Aand the leastlikelihood of catching in the ,players clothes. Football shoes .requirea larger and more sturdy construction'with a broader Likewise, trackshoes have longer and sharpercleats. -Each of these specially adaptedshoes havethe common difficulty of collecting mud and `foreign-materialwhichreduces theeffectiveness of the gripping action Vof the cleats andbecomes a continual annoyance to the player. This is es- .pecially truewheregames Vare played on damp ground.

Since the advent of night football and baseball, the `players nd that`dew on the grassy portion :ofthe iield will cling to the-soles oftheir-shoes-and willpickup dustrand yother foreign material whichaccumulates between l-the cleats of their shoes and lthen becomes caked.It has been the practice'of-athletic contestants experiencing thisdiiculty to use some Vextraneous means of removing the caked mud -or`foreign material. For example, baseball players may yoften been seen tostrike the side of their shoes with a bat to dislodgesome of thematerial. Ifit is badly caked they may dig at` it with their fingers orin some instances they may be required totake time out to use a pointedstick, knife or any other makeshift tool which -they `may find in thevicinity. In any event, Vthe cleaning job is unsatisfactory and further,the knocking `or rapping of'theshoe'by the baseball players bat `willsoon-cause irreparable damage to theshoe. `Football playyrers'likewisemust remove the caked mud and foreign material in order to utilize thefull benefit of the gripping action of their cleats. Here again there isno satisfactory methodof removing such caked material and lmakeshifttools or the -rplayers y-iingers are `usually employed to re- .move atleastfa portion of the material.

vIt is therefore a principal object of `this invention to 4provide'for acleat cleaning apparatus which will quickly and eficiently removesubstantially allthe cakedmud'or foreign material which may form on thesole and between the cleats of an 'athletic contestants shoe atintervals as required during Vthe -course -of the game vwhichr'heislp'lay ing and which does not necessitate the use of the players handsor removal of the shoe from the players foot.

It is another object of this invention to provide a cleat and brush andig.r2. Y f

cleaning apparatus which will quickly and .positively remove all thecaked material .from betweenzthe cleats-of the athletic contestantsshoes by the .simple-expedient of -the ,player .placing his foot withthe cleats of his ashoesqbetween-the guides which .are in predeterminedspacedvrelation to one another 4and .pulling his -foot .downwardlyzin anatural movement such as he mayemployto wipe or scrape the soles ofordinary shoes .wihich do notlbear cleats.

It is another object of the invention to .providelguide means for'thecleatrcleaner which wl1 .position.the;foot in a positive manner and,prevent thejaccidental .twisting or turning of the players foot whiletheshoe .isbeingmoved in predetermined travel across :the cleat cleaningdev-ice which is necessarily .powered to afdegree Ycreating a-forceagainst which the player cannot voluntarily hold-hisfoot. in the desiredrelationship.

lt is a still further object .of this invention Vto zprovide for a cleatcleaning device which has moving brush-'means for removingthe-rcakedrnud and foreignmaterialufrom between the cleats of theplayers shoes and which has--a novel and simple means forradjustingtheelTective-length of the bristles available Yfor cleaning .in accordance-with .the type of `cleatedfshoe which :is to rbe-cleaned.

These and otherobjects and advantages `ofmyinvention `will .more fullyappear Ifrom `the Hfollowingfdescription rmade in rconnection withthe:aecornpanyinggdrawings wherein vlike reference 4characters Trefer-to :similanparts throughout the several -viewsrand in-which:

.F.ig. .l is a perspective viewofmy invention.

Fig. .2 is a :side-elevation of my'vcleat-cleaning device showing indotted -linerepresentationan athleticshoe and .an adjusted new jpositionofthe -motor with attached-brush.

Eig. 3 shows ra -segmented :section of .the athletic rshoe guideelements-taken onithe line 3-3-.of

Referringcto itherdrawin'g my invention lincludes `a xe'd n structurehaving `a -base 10 extending substantially under ,the entire device.vtenedra housing .H .havingend -walls lflrand 1112 and side lAlongneA:edge -of fthe -base 1,0 isffa-swalls .'13 and :14. Thefend `Walls11=and 1.2fcontain arched `openings 15 adjacent ythe base -10whiehv-serveas openings for cleaning sout -any accumulated dirt an'd:foreigdma- :.terial Iwhich .may f gather on the :inside Aof fthe:housing lH -dened by the walls above described. ilhefs'rde-Wallsll .and14 `form at their top edges raplane -la'ngular to 1.the

surface-of base 10. Guard members L16 and i17-exten`d across the bevelededges -of walls ,13 and 14 to pr'event :mud and lforeign material `from`being uncontrollably ejected from the device in an undesirable-manner.

Also securedrto 'base -10arefinountingbrackets :18 and x19. The brackets.-18 .and A-19 'are fparallelrtothe side l=wall /13 and are situatedin:spaced :relation fforfthe-mounting of-a motorunit `20 in thepreferredlformbf fmyinvention. It'is to beunderstoodfoffcourse,thatwhere independent .powermeans is Supplieda journalfassembly vmayfbesub- `stituted `for 'the :motor v2l) `and likewise -be yadjustablymounted-uponthebrackets s1'8 and-19. Stud bolts 21 4are aixed vto 4thehbrackets 18 Vand -19 `so tas Eto =be @positioned in ythe `slots `22-fofthe base f2s. vWing nuts 24 =may1be `threaded -upon the studs 21 .forcadjustably :securing the journal assembly or motor. 20 -upon thebrackets vf18 and 19. The journalled `shait :or Smotor shaft '25 extendsthrough a slotted opening 26 formed in theI-side :131.to allow forlateral adjustment of the motor `together =with Vits shaft V2Suponthemountingfbrackets 18y and 19. Fixed to the shaft 25.androtatingl-therewith isabrush=element 27. The bristles `28 ofthebrush27ext'end:radially out ward from the-shaft 2S and areconstructedfroml=a=stii The bristles 2"8 are formed in a circular brush which iscentrally located between the side walls 13 and 14. Fixed to the top ofthe housing element H and angulated from one side to the other is aguide, the guide having a pair of bars 29 and a slot or guidewayextending longitudinally thereof and continuing in unobstructed mannerthrough the bottom edge of the guide. The guide has a at and plane uppersurface at each of the bars 29 and also has vertical cleat contactingsurfaces in opposed relation at the inside edges 'of bars 29, thevertical cleat contact surfaces defining said guideway or slot. Theguards 16 and 17 close a portion of the guideway from communication withthe interior of housing H but define a rectangular opening or aperturethrough which the circular brush bristles 28 may extend. The entire unitmay be conveniently portable and a handle 30 aiiixed to the base 10 maybe employed` athletic shoe to be cleaned` The bristles need not bearheavily against the sole of the shoe, it being merely necessary thatthey wipe the ends and sides of the cleats 31 of the shoe 32 as shown inFigs. 2 and 3. When a player is troubled with an accumulation of mud orforeign material between the cleats of his shoes, he stands forwardly ofthe surface of the inclined top of housing element H and places eachfoot consecutively upon and near the top of guide bars 29 with thecleats 31 positioned therebetween. He then brings his foot slowlydownward so as to maintain the cleats within the guide space and bearingsimultaneously upon the stiff bristles 28 of the brush element 2.7. Thedirection of rotation of the brush element 27 is such that thebristlesrin contact with the cleats 31 are moving forwardly and-upwardly to oppose the downward movement of the foot. The player inovercoming the action of the stiff bristles brings his foot firmly backdown to the ground in front of the apparatus in a natural, wipingaction. The spaced relation of the guide bars 29 and their natural anglemake the entire lcleaning operation an extremely quick and simple one.

Accumulations of mud and foreign material will lie upon the base withinthe housing H and will fall through either of the arched openings whenthe apparatus is tilted forwardly or backwardly at the end of each game.If so desired my invention contemplates the use of clean-out drawers ateither end of the housing H. Where 'v the nature of the athleticfootwear requires a wider space between the guide bars 29 the distancetherebetween may be altered so as to allow for the entry therein of thecleats while still maintaining contact by the outeredge of the sole withthe guide bar 29.

It will thus be seen that I have constructed a novel and simplearrangement of elements whereby the athletic shoe of a contestant may becleaned while on his foot with a minimum of effort on his part andwithout requiring the use of fingers, sticks or other extraneousmakeshift articles. The length of time required for the purpose ofcleaning such shoes is thereby minimized since the players canordinarily clean their cleats on my device during natural intervalsoccurring during the game without calling special time-out periods forsuch purposes.

It will,A of course, be understood that various changes may be made inthe form, details, arrangement and proportions of the parts withoutdeparting from the scope of my invention.

What I claim is:

1. Apparatus for cleaning foreign substances such as caked mud from thecleats of an athletic shoe having cleated soles, said apparatuscomprising, a fixed structure in the nature of a housing, a guiderigidly secured to the top of said housing and angulated with respect tothe horizontal from one side to the other thereof, said guide having aflat and plane upper surface for at least a substantial part of itslength and a straight and unobstructed vertical cleat contacting surfaceextending for a substantial portion of the length of said guide, astiff-bristled brush element mounted for movement adjacent the verticalsurface of said guide, the bristles of said brush terminating outwardlyat least as far as the plane of said upper surface during movement ofthe brush, and power means for driving said brush whereby said cleatswill be cleaned when the cleated shoe is pulled downwardly with the solethereof in firm contact with the said upper surface and the cleatsthereof in guided contact with said vertical surface, and said shoebeing movable in such guided contact completely through the lower end ofsaid angulated guide.

2. Apparatus for cleaning foreign substances such as caked mud from thecleats of an athletic shoe having cleated soles, said apparatuscomprising, a fixed structure in the nature of a housing, a guiderigidly secured to the top of said housing and angulated with respect tothe horizontal from one side to the other thereof, said guide having aflat and plane upper surface for at least a substantial part of itslength and a straight and unobstructed guide slot having vertical cleatcontacting surface extending all the way to the lower end of saidangulated guide, a guard underlying the guide slot and having anaperture formed therethrough, a circular stiff-bristled brush elementjournaled for rotational movement adjacent and relative to the verticalsurface of said guide, the bristles of said brush extending through theaperture and terminating outwardly atleast as far as the plane of saidupper surface during rotation of the brush, and power means for drivingsaid brush whereby said cleats will be cleaned when the cleated shoe ispulled downwardly with the sole thereof in firm contact with said uppersurface and the cleats thereof in guided contact with said verticalsurface and said shoe being movable in such guided Contact completelythrough the lower end of said angulated guide.

3. Apparatus for cleaning foreign substances such as caked mud from thecleats of an athletic shoe having cleated soles, said apparatuscomprising a fixed structure in the nature of a housing, a base securedto said housing, spaced parallel guide bars rigidly secured to the topof said housing and presenting an upwardly angulated plane forpositioning a marginal area of said shoe sole thereagainst with thecleats thereof positioned between the guide bars for longitudinalsliding travel, a motor mounted on said base and adjustable to one of amultiplicity of rigid positions in the same longitudinal direction asthat of the spaced guide bars, and having a rotatable power shaftsubstantially normal to the longitudinal direction of said spacedparallel guide bars and positioned thereunder, a stiff-bristled rotarybrush axially secured to said shaft, the circumference thereof lyingbetween said guide bars, and adjustment means for effecting said rigidadjustment of the motor and rotary brush .r with respect to the base,whereby the effective circumference of said brush bristles will beadvanced and retracted to rigid fixed position with the brush bristlesterminating at least in the plane of said upwardly angled plane.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS957,992 McLeod May 17, 1910 965,176 Geraldson July 26, 1910 1,420,375Gales June 20, 1922 2,185,638 Le Gault Jan. 2, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS163,235 Switzerland Oct. 2, 1933

